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Tax
Tax strategies, planning, and compliance for individuals and businesses
Australia's Instant Asset Write-Off: The $20,000 'Permanent' Threshold That Isn't Law Yet
Australia's May 2026 Budget proposed making the $20,000 instant asset write-off permanent from 1 July 2026, but until the enabling Bill passes Parliament the legislated threshold reverts to $1,000 per asset. What qualifies, the car-limit and capital-works exclusions, and how to time purchases while the law is still pending.
Germany's Kleinunternehmerregelung in 2026: How the €25,000/€100,000 VAT Exemption Thresholds Work
Germany's Kleinunternehmerregelung (§19 UStG) exempts small businesses from charging VAT if prior-year net revenue stayed under €25,000 and current-year revenue stays under €100,000 — a hard, real-time ceiling since the 2024 reform. Here is how the thresholds, invoice wording rules, e-invoicing deadlines, and the five-year opt-out lock-in work in 2026.
Flipping Houses in 2026: Why the IRS Taxes Your Profit as Ordinary Income, Not Capital Gains
House flippers are almost always IRS "dealers," not investors — flip profits are ordinary income on Schedule C plus 15.3% self-employment tax, often a combined rate over 40% versus the 15–20% capital gains rate flippers expect. How the Winthrop factors decide dealer status, why rehab costs must be capitalized into COGS, and four strategies (including an S corp election) that reduce the hit.
Kenya's KRA Now Auto-Validates Tax Returns Against eTIMS Invoices: What Changes in 2026
Starting with 2025 year-of-income returns filed in 2026, Kenya's KRA automatically cross-checks declared income and expenses against eTIMS invoices, withholding tax records, and customs data — expenses without a matching electronic invoice are reclassified as taxable profit. Here's who's affected, the exempt categories, and a compliance checklist.
Liberia's GST-to-VAT Transition: What Small Businesses Must Do Before the 2026 Registration Deadline
Liberia replaces its 13% GST with an ~18% VAT on January 1, 2027, with mandatory registration running July 1 to December 31, 2026. Here's how GST and VAT differ, why the change forces businesses to track input and output tax separately, and a practical bookkeeping checklist to get compliant before the deadline.
New Zealand's GST Is Turning 40 — And Inland Revenue Just Proposed the Biggest Cleanup in Years
Inland Revenue's May 2026 "Current GST Issues" paper poses 56 questions across eight reform areas for New Zealand's 40-year-old GST Act — excluding zero-rated exports from the $60,000 registration threshold, reclassifying student accommodation as commercial dwellings, zero-rating residential solar exports, and a 5% materiality test for error correction. Here's what small businesses, freelancers, and landlords should track before draft legislation lands.
Ontario Cuts Its Small Business Tax Rate to 2.2%: What CCPC Owners Should Check Before Year-End
Effective July 1, 2026, Ontario cut its small business corporate tax rate from 3.2% to 2.2% and raised its eligible income limit from $500,000 to $600,000. Calendar-year CCPCs must prorate to a blended ~2.7% for 2026, and the unchanged $500,000 federal limit creates a new $100,000 band taxed at 17.2% — here's what to verify before your fiscal year closes.
Puerto Rico Act 38-2026: What Changed in the Act 60 Investor Tax Decree — and Who Keeps 0%
Puerto Rico's Act 38-2026, signed March 20, 2026, ends the 0% Act 60 Individual Resident Investor rate for new applicants — decrees secured by December 31, 2026 keep legacy 0% terms, later filers pay 4%, the program extends to 2055, and LLC-owned homes no longer qualify.
South Africa's 2026 VAT Threshold Jump: What the New R2.3 Million Line Means for Your Small Business
South Africa's 2026 Budget raises the compulsory VAT registration threshold from R1 million to R2.3 million effective 1 April 2026, lifts voluntary registration to R120,000, and adds a R600,000 tax-free band to turnover tax — here's who should consider deregistering, who shouldn't, and how to keep the bookkeeping clean through the transition.
Do You Need an ABN? The Sole Trader Tax Basics Every Australian Freelancer Should Know
Australian sole traders who invoice without an ABN lose 47% of each payment to mandatory withholding. This guide covers free same-day ABN registration, the $75,000 rolling 12-month GST threshold, quarterly BAS due dates, individual marginal tax rates for 2026-27, deductible super contributions, and the ATO's five-year record-keeping rule.
Freelancing in Switzerland: How Cantonal Taxes, AHV, and the CHF 100,000 VAT Line Actually Work
A Swiss freelancer's tax bill stacks federal (up to 11.5%), cantonal, and communal layers — roughly CHF 15,000–18,000 on CHF 100,000 of profit in Zug versus about CHF 28,000 in Geneva. This guide covers AHV self-employed status (three criteria, ~10% of net profit, CHF 2,300 registration threshold), the CHF 100,000 VAT and Commercial Register line, 8.1% standard VAT, Pillar 3a deductions up to CHF 36,288, and when a GmbH beats a sole proprietorship.
Idaho HB 559: Why 100% Bonus Depreciation Won't Apply on Your State Return
Idaho's HB 559, signed February 10, 2026, conforms to the OBBBA's expanded $2.5 million Section 179 cap but decouples from 100% bonus depreciation under Section 168(k), new Section 168(n) qualified production property expensing, and R&E transition relief — a divergence projected to cost Idaho businesses about $151 million in 2026. Here's who it hits and how the Form DBDA addback works.